Zootopia: Try Everything, Try Anything
by IyanSommerset
Summary: Nicholas P. Wilde, dumb fox. Judy Hopps, smart bunny. And sometimes, the other way around depending on who you ask. Police officers. Partners. Friends. Perhaps even more than that. Two young souls on a collision course with life. Together, they march towards the future. In Zootopia, the city where anyone can be anything. These are their stories. [Anthology]
1. First Kiss

**First Kiss**

"Nick! Please! Don't! Stop!" Officer Judy Hopps, highly decorated member of the Zootopia Police Department, managed to shout as the strong jaws around her slender neck clamped even tighter. She could feel the keen ridges on those hard teeth on the vulnerable patch of skin just above her exposed collarbone where her grey fur was thinnest. A jolt of what might have been pain shot up from where she could feel the sharp tip of a canine tooth pressing down on her jugular, threatening to release her life's blood pulsing just underneath.

"Carrots, you ok?" Nicholas P. Wilde, fellow Zootopia Police Department member and her partner, asked as he froze in mid-bite. The four-foot tall red fox stood erect, carrying the full weight of his prey in front of him with his paws while his mouth was carefully positioned around her neck.

"Yeah," Judy whispered as she squinted down at Nick's snout, wondering why he had stopped. The fox had a confused look in the single green eye she could see. His head was angled sideways, his long canine jaws pushed around her neck as far as she could pull his head around it. "I said don't stop." Her paws ruffled the fur behind her partner's ears, which she then tugged on playfully. "Keep going."

Nick mumbled a muffled "okay" as he resumed playfully chewing on the rabbit's neck, trying to find that sweet spot between too much and too little force that shifted Judy's voice into soft and sensual moaning. He could feel her tensed neck muscles vibrate with every breath she took in. She seemed to take favorably to when he playfully raked the ridges of his rear teeth on her skin beneath the fur.

"Ohhh," a loud and throaty moan escaped the rabbit's mouth. Judy felt her shoulders tremble as Nick drew his tongue up the length of her neck, lowering her down and bringing his snout level with her nose. His light emerald eyes shone brightly in the dim moonlight, almost glowing as his predatory nature revealed itself through subtle biology. She noticed his iridescent pupils staring intently at her face, carefully taking in every single twitch, ready to release his grip if she showed any sign of becoming uncomfortable. It took Judy all her will to momentarily take control of her shuddering body and flash him a smile.

"You are one delicious rabbit, Miss Hopps." Nick whispered, his hot breath flowing over her twitching nose, past her whiskers and making her eyelashes flutter in anticipation. Warm, moist and fruity. His breath smelled like the blueberries he loved to munch on.

She couldn't take it any longer. Judy barely noticed her foot thumping on the ground uncontrollably as she lunged for her partner's snout and pressed her lips against his mouth. It felt much larger than she had initially expected, and she couldn't find the right position that would let her touch as much of his lips as possible.

Nick almost recoiled in surprise as his partner lunged for him. The diminutive rabbit barely reached up to the top of his shoulders and yet easily made it up the remaining foot-and-a-half to his snout in a single leap. He felt her powerful hind legs wrap around his narrow abdomen while her arms went for his furry neck.

The kiss caught him by surprise, much like the first peck she had given him a few minutes ago. This time, Nick offered little resistance, simply going along with Judy's inexperienced kisses, pressing her lips all along the slit of his mouth, trying to suck his mouth in at every opportunity. He tried to meet her wherever her lips landed but she was just too fast and vigorous, much like the way she conducted herself through life. Classic Judy.

Judy attacked Nick's snout relentlessly, striking with her lips over and over again like a highly energized cobra. After a while, she tired and simply rested her head in the crook of his neck. They hung there, near-motionless, listening to the sound of each other's heavy breathing. Judy's long ears were draped over her partner's back, and her extremely sensitive hearing could sense Nick's heart beating much faster than she was used to. She wasn't faring any different. The hyperactive bunny could feel her own trying to jump out of her chest.

The couple had been at it for just a few minutes, but Nick already found it difficult to remember the events that had led them here, into each other's arms, on top of a hill overlooking the sprawling megacity of Zootopia. It truly was the city that never slept, he realized as a cluster of spotlights caught his eye, just a block away from the stadium. Like multicolored pillars of light holding up the heavens, they moved around, illuminating any cloud that they happened to graze.

"You think Clawhauser's enjoying himself down there?" Judy asked, following Nick's line of sight down towards the lights emanating from Gazelle's after-concert party. They had come from the concert earlier, yet another one by the local pop superstar. Their work friends had invited them to the after-party but Nick hadn't wanted to and Judy decided to keep her partner company instead.

"Yeah, definitely." Nick wrapped his arm around Judy, intending to pull her in close before realizing she was already buried deep into his neck fur. He dropped his hand down to her side, gently stroking her curvy flank with his padded paw instead.

It actually started with a challenge. Nick had been acting rather stiff during the concert, which annoyed Judy who had been enjoying the show so far. It wasn't unheard of for the suave fox to be the straight man to Judy's naive wackiness. Most times she was used to it. But this night, Nick just got to her.

It was during Gazelle's performance of her signature song, ' _Try Everything_.' Nick had made an off-handed comment that Judy had overheard, something about how ' _trying is what gets you burnt_.' As cynical as Nick normally was, his optimistic rabbit partner felt that one go over the line. So it was that after the concert she challenged the pessimistic fox.

"I dare you to kiss me," was her brazen, half-adrenalin, half-euphoria and partially-alcohol-fueled dare. At first, Nick gave her a look bordering on incredulity. But as soon as he realized she was serious, he agreed, urged on by pride. And alcohol. In retrospect, they really should have stayed away from the VIP open bar section of the concert grounds.

"Fine," he replied angrily. But his partner held her hand up in a gesture for him to stop as he advanced on her in the stadium parking lot, surrounded by other patrons, many of whom recognized two of the most famous police officers in the city.

"Not here! Somewhere private!" Judy exclaimed, suddenly looking nervously at the groups of strangers around them with wide eyes. At the time, Nick should have noticed there was something brewing behind those large, lavender orbs. But Nicolas P. Wilde was not one to back down from a challenge, especially not a challenge from his partner and best friend. So he decided to take her up to Lookout Point, one of the highest points in Zootopia.

It took them a while to walk to the base of the hill where Lookout Point was located. It took them even longer to scamper up the sloped ground. Neither of them had brought a car to the concert, having ridden with the rest of the ZPD gang in McHorn's van. So they were sweaty and exhausted when they reached the peak of the hill, a few hundred meters above the city.

"Do I really have to do this?" Nick asked nervously, uncharacteristic of the typically cocky fox. As an experienced ex-con man, he was usually brazen and over-confident. Judy giggled as Nick showed her a side of himself few people barely ever saw. "How about we call it quits and well, you win." The fox shifted his weight from foot to foot as he loosened his striped tie, his bushy tail unconsciously wagging rapidly behind him.

"Come on, Nick. Try everything, right?" Judy strode over to her partner slowly, one foot in front of the other, her loose blouse billowing in the evening wind. It was cold, and she could feel the buzz in her blood. Thank you, open bar.

"Try me." She said as she reached him, placing one grey paw on his chest. It was now or never, she thought. Judy puckered her lips and closed her eyes, her head angled upwards for Nick's easy access.

She had been planning on getting him to kiss her all week long, ever since Clawhauser had gotten them tickets for the concert. Her attraction to the fox had been brewing ever since _'the Night Howler incident_ ,' when they had first met each other and saved the city from a takeover by the former assistant mayor. That attraction had slowly grown in the months past that, but Judy clearly remembered the first time she had considered the possibility. It was there on the cable car, during the event, when Nick had first opened up to her after being attacked by the feral jaguar driver. The way he looked so vulnerable, pouring his heart out to her, she wanted to reach out and embrace him, to tell him the world wasn't as dark as he thought. All she could do at the time was put her paw on his arm. One first step that would culminate in this weekend's Gazelle concert.

And there it was.

The kiss was nothing like she had ever imagined. A bit disappointing actually, until she realized all Nick had done was dip his snout low enough for her pouted lips to touch the tip of his cold nose. "There!" He quickly withdrew his head and spun around on his heels back towards the bottom of the hill.

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" Judy shouted at her partner, hands on her hips and an angry, disappointed look on her face. "You come back here and give me a real kiss you coward!" She hopped a few times in anger, the full length of her rabbit feet making an audible thud with each stomped landing. "Don't you dare leave me with a half-assed first kiss!"

Nick stopped in his tracks with that last line. Judy couldn't figure out if she had gone too far with her taunting. In the moonlight, his silhouette started shaking, which tipped off Judy that something was off. No, he was laughing.

"F-first kiss?" Nick tried to hold in his laughter, failing miserably. "This is your first kiss?" He looked back incredulously at his partner. Judy was in her mid-twenties. He figured she'd been in a few relationships before, but never realized she was this green.

"Y-yeah!" Judy glared at him, overcompensating for the embarrassment she was feeling at the moment. It was a cold night, and yet she felt like she was burning around her eyes and neck. "What's so funny?"

"You're a rabbit! Don't you guys, you know?" Nick asked as he walked back to her. Never been kissed? That was quite unexpected to hear, especially considering that she was a rabbit. Nick thought about it. Rabbits were known for well, multiplying. Judy herself came from an extremely large family, as far as he knew. "Don't you have a bajillion brothers and sisters?"

"What?" Judy pouted upwards as Nick reached her. "If you haven't noticed, I'm a career-oriented woman! I never had time for that...stuff." She remembered all the boy rabbits who had crushes on her back in school. She never paid heed to any of them or their advances. There was only one goal, and that was becoming the best police officer in all of Zootopia.

"Here, let's try again." Nick patted his diminutive partner on the shoulder. It was a second after that he realized Judy's blouse had pulled to one side and he had placed his paw on the side that had her shoulder bared. The sensation of her soft fur under his padded palm wasn't going to make this easy. "Come on, let's give you a proper first kiss." Nick said as he tried to hide the fact that his throat had just completely dried up.

Judy nodded, and made the same awkward face she had made the first time. She looked so cute in the pale evening light, so adorable as her eyelids crushed her lashes between them. Nick tried to focus on her twitching nose as he closed in with his snout. He hadn't done this in a while, and he wanted to get it right. Which was difficult to do while he tried hard not to pay attention to the fact that he had been trying to hide his growing feelings for her for months now. Nick held his feelings in check and went in for the kiss.

Judy's entire body tensed up as she first felt the warm, soft wetness envelop her lips, pressing firmly against them and yet drawing them in at the same time. She felt a shudder through her body as she yielded her tightened pout, letting Nick's flesh dictate the form of her mouth instead.

Almost on instinct, she let her lips flow over his, retreating back towards her mouth with a sucking motion, drawing Nick further into her. He reciprocated, sucking back with such controlled softness that it felt like a sensual tug of war between the two partners.

"Carrots," Nick whispered out the side of his mouth as he felt his eyes roll upwards and backwards, trying to catch sight of the back of his eye sockets.

"Mmnnh?" Judy managed to mumble while keeping her mouth glued to his snout.

"Your breath smells like carrots," he said softly as he pushed her back down and away. As he opened his eyes, and took in the sweetest face he had ever lain eyes on, a look of confusion came across his face. The reality of the situation was just settling in. Life had just become much more complicated for Nicholas P. Wilde. What else was new?

"I-is that a bad thing?" Judy's voice was an adorable whimper. The look in her eyes was a mix of guilt and excitement as reality was also catching up to her senses. Her nose twitched rapidly as she let her hands fall to her sides.

"No," Nick turned to sit on the soft grass beneath their feet. "It's perfect." His words floated in the wind above them. Judy followed suit, sitting down beside her partner. They faced the sparkling lights of Zootopia below them. The stadium lights were still on, along with the spotlights coming from where the after-party was being held. The business district and the downtown area were blazingly bright as ever, even for early in the morning. In the distance, they could see an eerie glow emanating from Tundratown as the collective moonlight reflected off the snow and ice. Even farther, tiny pinpricks of shimmering yellow belied the torch-like street lamps of the Rainforest District. It all seemed so surreal, their entire world beneath their feet, as they were just above it all. For just one night.

Surprisingly, it was Nick who shifted himself closer to his companion, moving nearer until he could put his arm around her tiny body. She seemed so small compared to the lanky fox, and yet felt so large nestled within the arc of his outstretched arm.

Judy reciprocated, wrapping both arms around his midsection while keeping her gaze trained on the city lights. He felt so warm and comfy against her body, and there was something about him tonight that seemed different. A scent that tickled primal spots in the back of her brain, buttons that had been forgotten for the past twenty-some years were being pushed. She felt a stirring in her belly as she looked up at her companion.

"Nick," she said in a voice so soft, the wind could have stolen her words away without a passing thought. It came out in a purr, not exactly how she imagined but exactly how she felt. "Kiss me."

"Judy," said Nick hesitantly. He felt a hint of nervousness as he looked down into her eyes while he cradled the rest of her body. His ears could pick up a trembling rasp in her voice, as if her words were coming from deep within her body. In their short time together as partners, he had never heard her sound like this. Raw. Sensual.

"Shut up and kiss me, Nicholas Wilde." Judy forcefully pulled Nick down by his tie, aiming for his lips with her mouth. There was barely enough time for him to respond as Judy planted yet another green kiss on the side of his mouth. Nick closed his eyes and smiled. She was as innocent as he had imagined. He slipped his paw behind her neck and up just under her ears. It was time to up the ante.

Judy's large eyes popped open in surprise as she felt something wet press against her teeth. She felt her ears stand on end as the taste of blueberries rushed past her lips and into her mouth. The knot in her belly grew even tighter, and she let out a moan to compensate. She felt it softly scrape the top of her mouth as she licked its hot underside with her own tongue.

"Oh god," Judy pressed a paw against her partner's back while squeezing with her knees. It felt so wrong, and yet so good. "We should not be doing this," Judy mumbled through the side of her mouth.

"Hey, this was your idea, carrots. If you want to stop, just say so." Nick pulled away and held her at arm's length. Despite every single fiber in his body telling him not to, he would have let her go if she asked.

"No, I was just - keep going," the diminutive rabbit reached out and grabbed her partner's neck by tie again. With a flick of her wrist, she wrapped the silk strap around her paws and pulled with all her might.

"Hey! Umph!" Nick was caught off guard by Judy's strength. His snout hurtled forward straight into her lips. It felt weird at first, with Judy wrapping as much of her small mouth around the tip of Nick's snout. He wriggled his head upwards, freeing his nose and helping her find his mouth.

"Mmmmmmnnnnn." She sucked on what little of her companion's mouth would fit into her own, and then she thrust her tongue out to stroke his. Her turn. Judy reached inside, thirsting for that transient taste of blueberries mixed with just a little bit of the beer they had been drinking earlier.

Nick felt her tiny little stub of flesh tickling the tip of his tongue. He resisted the primal urge to just let go and slobber all over her face with his tongue the way all canines do. Instead, it took all of his will and concentration to skillfully maneuver his large tongue to meet her own, inside the cavity of his protruding mouth.

Gently, he slipped as much of his large, canine tongue into Judy's mouth. More quickly this time, although there was a bit of apprehension from their earlier lingual exchange. He realized this might have been the first time she had ever felt tongue.

Judy felt her ears lose all structure as Nick's flesh filled her oral cavity. It took all of her concentration and focus to cling to his body. Her arms wanted to follow her ears and just let go. She mustered enough strength to hold on, though she felt them get lower as he gave in to her weight.

His tongue felt so rough, so textured, as it assaulted the soft, wet skin on the inside of her cheeks. It was unlike anything she had ever felt or tasted before. Millions of tiny bristles caressed her tender flesh, sending her nerve endings haywire. And then there it was.

It was that very same feeling of her nose, twitching uncontrollably. Except this time, the twitching was much stronger. And it wasn't simply her nose, not this time. She could feel every single strand of fur stand on end all over her entire body.

And then there was pain.

"Ow!" Judy's eyes flicked open as she tasted blood in her mouth. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. Maybe he just hadn't had practice in a long time, she secretly hoped. The engaged rabbit was willing to continue, but her partner seemed to have frozen after the accidental bite. At least she hoped it was accidental.

Nick's eyes were wide open and his pupils tiny. It was a look of surprise. At first, Judy thought it was because of the bite but she quickly realized he was looking not at her, but past her. At something behind her.

She spun around expecting danger and saw four long, large claws held high in the air facing the couple. The hand was swaying in the air slowly, almost undulating with a frequency that was far too slow for her rapidly beating heart. They were attached to the hand of something – no – someone standing a few feet behind her. Someone familiar.

It was a sloth. Judy sighed in relief and prepared to drag Nick away, hoping the sloth's slow perception was too slow to remember any details. That was before she had a closer look at the lumbering animal that was slowly raising its hand at them while breaking into a smile. It was their friend from the DMV, Flash. And he had just seen them making out.

"Hi."

"Hey Flash!" Nick exclaimed, putting on all his innate charm into his voice. Judy could tell that the sly fox was putting on his professional suave act.

"Nick."

Oh. At least he only recognized Nick. Judy hoped he had only seen the fox and not-

"And Judy."

-herself. She felt herself shrinking in embarrassment as she took a few steps back and tried to hide herself behind Nick.

"Flash, buddy!" Nick waved cautiously while looking around. There seemed to be nobody else around. He squinted, trying to see in the shadows with his low-light vision. Nothing. He couldn't smell anyone else either. But that wasn't saying much since the only thing he could really smell was the freshness of Judy's mouth, all over his muzzle.

Instinctively, he held his partner close behind him, trying to hide her with his tail. She peeked out anyway and gave their slow friend a wave and a smile. "What brings you here?" Nick asked the sloth.

Flash took a good ten seconds to raise one clawed hand and gesture towards the view of the city.

"This is."

Judy knew the drill. She rested her chin on the red tail in front of her face, waiting for the sloth to continue-

"Where I go."

-talking. She felt one eye twitch. As she had learned during her first days on the force, it was incredibly frustrating to interact with the slower citizens especially for a fast-paced bunny such as-

"To think."

-herself. She poked Nick in the small of his back, her impatience bubbling behind her eyes.

Nick seemed to get it, giving her shoulder a good squeeze with his paw. "Well, that's great buddy! We really have to get going-"

"About life."

Nick stopped abruptly, almost forgetting his train of thought. Judy found that quite odd, having seen him interact with the sloths in the short time they had been together. He never got cut off in mid-sentence. It was weird. Then again, tonight was all sorts of weird.

Nick for the life of him wasn't thinking about any of that at all. He was trying to figure out what in the world a sloth would need to think about, considering they seemed to have all the time in the world to think about pretty much everything and anything. It was a reminder of just how different they all were despite living in the same place. He opened his mouth to say something but Flash managed to cut him off again.

"And how it's been."

Judy felt a growl of frustration simmer inside Nick's throat. Or rather, she heard it. Her left ear was pressed flat against his back, above where he was holding her head behind his tail.

Nick stomped once on the ground and tried to put on a straight face. "What could-"

"Good."

Judy couldn't take it anymore. She groaned in exasperation and bit down on the red tail tickling her nose. "What my, ahem, partner means to say is that-"

"So far."

 _Urgh!_ She pulled away and threw her hands in the air in surrender, then brought them down behind her ears, wiping them over and on her face.

Nick looked down at his partner. Judy was exceptionally hyper, even compared to non-sloths. Sometimes, she was too fast even for the likes of him. This must be torture for her. They had to make a break for it. It was a rather steep climb back down the hill. They could definitely make it before Flash even realized they had left. But then that left the problem of there being a witness to...whatever had just happened.

And that just wouldn't fly, even in incredibly diverse Zootopia. Interspecies dealings were commonly professional. This? This was more taboo than eating meat from a fellow animal.

Besides, Nick realized. Just how much had the sloth seen? It couldn't have been much. "How long have you been here?" He asked Flash.

"Five."

Phew, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. Five minutes wouldn't have been enough time to see everything. It was barely enough time-

"Hours."

Nick's face fell. He knows. Someone knows. If word of this got out, he'd be kicked off the force. Judy might get away with a reprimand, but maybe not. She definitely was one of the more recognizable public faces of the Zootopia Police Department. If there was even the slightest gossip that officer Judy Hopps wasn't as straight and clean as her reputation, that would reflect badly not only on her, but the entire department as well. And it would have been all his fault. He felt his shoulders slump as he pondered his options, right until he felt her wiggle out from his paw and out towards their ponderous mutual acquaintance.

Hands clasped guiltily in front of her belly, Judy stepped in front of her flabbergasted partner. She addressed the sloth. "Mister Flash, I know you saw me and my partner um, doing things. Things that may have looked a bit weird and frankly unconventional. But I know you know that we're decent animals and well, we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. Please. It could jeopardize our lives, everything. Please?"

"Oh." A look of understanding slowly formed on the sloth's face, which then morphed into a harmless smile. "Kay." He nodded. At least it might have been a nod, or a slight bobbing of his head. "Okay." He repeated. No other words. No comments. Not a single sign of judgement on his oddly expressive face.

Judy felt a warm sigh of relief blow over on the top of her head. Nick grabbed her hand and gestured down the road, down the hill. "Ok thanks bye catch you around!" He said as he tugged on Judy's arm and started jogging along the road. She followed suit and hopped alongside him. They passed Flash's sports car just parked right behind a thicket of bushes, and then continued down the asphalt path back down towards the city.

"That was close," Nick finally spoke after a long bout of silence between the two. What had happened had happened. It was probably just the heat of the moment, the emotional high from the concert, and the alcohol. It reminded him why he generally tended to stay away from drinking. He could smell the alcohol coming from Judy's breath as well. Things would be back to normal after the weekend.

Halfway down, Judy let go and broke into a playful run. She looked back at her partner and gave him that look. The hustle look. One eyebrow raised while the other eye stared at him seductively. It was her playful challenge look. Except tonight, it had changed what it meant for him. There was a hunger there that he never noticed before.

"Catch me if you can!" She wiggled her tail and ears at him. Something triggered in the back of his mind, something primal. As if thousands of years of evolution had failed to stamp out his predatory instincts.

Judy was already a few dozen yards ahead of him when he decided to give in and go with the chase. It was a game they had come to occasionally play. The bunny knew exactly how to get a rise out of her predatory friend, to trigger his instinctive need to chase down his prey.

"I'll get you this time, carrots!" He listened to the tiny voice in the back of his mind that wanted him to eat that rabbit. To hold a part of her soft body in his mouth. Oh he so wanted to have her in his mouth. Again. Nick gave chase.

* * *

It was well past three when the partners got back to their part of the massive megacity. It being a Friday night, right after a Gazelle concert to boot, there were still a few cliques of citizens trying to make their way back home.

There weren't any more weird shenanigans between them, but they were dead drunk. The two had found an open liquor shop and Judy had uncharacteristically insisted on having a carrot cooler. Maybe it was the long trot down outlook point just they were parched. By the time they found themselves in front of Judy's apartment, they had already finished five bottles between the two of them. That left both off-duty police officers just barely able to stand.

"You're under arrest for public intoxication!" The pint-sized rabbit suddenly grabbed her much larger companion's wrist. She gave him a large toothy grin as she looked up at him.

Nick grabbed Judy's arm in response. "No, you're under arrest for public intoxication!" He gave her a much bigger smile as he leaned down and looked her in the eyes. The smell of her breath was intense at this range. He tried to ignore it, to no avail.

Their noses almost touching, Nick felt a kind of warmth from Judy's stare. The whites surrounding her lavender eyes were streaked with red, glazed over and a bit teary. Probably from the carrot coolers, of which she had a lot of. He himself felt warm all over, right under his skin, as if his fur was a little too thick for the night time air.

"Nick," she whispered.

"Judy," he responded.

"Would you like to..." Judy's voice trailed off as her addled mind cycled through various images of her and Nick. In compromising positions. A blur of rust red and shadow grey on her otherwise pristine bed. "...come inside?" A look of half-horror crossed her eyes as some part of her had just heard what she had just said. Her subconscious was bleeding out through her words. "I mean upstairs? Come upstairs?" She corrected herself.

Nick paused to think, however hard it had become given the circumstances. He found himself staring straight into the purple of her eyes. Every single detail jumped out at him. Every single trembling eyelash, every minute twitch of her button-like nose. He could see the whiskers above her mouth quivering. It didn't feel right. Not right now, not with her like this.

"Maybe next time." He gave his partner a tiny peck on her button nose with his pouted lips just under the tip of his snout.

"We don't have to try everything," he managed to say while biting down on the back half of his tongue. The little fox voice in the back of his head, the one that had kept him alive all these years, was shouting at him to stop and think. To figure out what was happening first. The last time he remembered ignoring that voice involved a rug made from the butt of a skunk. Yeah, better listen, Nicholas. He bumped his nose against Judy's. "Not right now, not all at once."

A look of disappointment momentarily crossed Judy's face before it was replaced by the sweetest, drunkest smile Nick had ever seen. Any sweeter and they would have needed to wake up the anteater who lived a floor below her for help. She pulled him down with her paws and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on his lips. Nick wanted so much to give in to her advances but they had to take this slow, whatever this was. It had to be right. He reciprocated with a tiny flick of his own tongue, pushing hers back into her mouth before he pushed her back down as gently as he could.

"Goodnight, carrots."

He made sure she was well inside the door to her building before he turned around and disappeared into the night.

He wasn't looking forward to Monday.

* * *

Upstairs, Judy Hopps lay on her bed, staring upward at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. Hey eyes glazed over, her heart beating too rapidly to allow her mind to slip into the loving embrace of sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the taste of blueberries.

Her phone beeped. Judy reached for the smartphone and drew it up to her nose. It was a text message from Clawhauser. Hmm, she realized the after-party must have been winding down. With a tap, she opened it the message expecting to see him rave about hanging out with his favorite pop star.

' _Well, how did it go?_ ' His message asked, ending with a winking emoticon.

Judy grinned, firing off a quick reply. ' _Blueberries_ ,' followed by a kissing smiley. She could imagine the portly cheetah squealing in delight as he read her message. ' _Please, don't tell anyone_ ,' she added quickly. While their co-workers teased her and Nick constantly, they probably wouldn't be ready to discover that their constant joking had a grain of truth to it. It was going to be hard to hide whatever this was from a building full of police-mammals, including some of the best detectives Zootopia had to offer.

Still, an uncontrollable smile found its way on Judy's lips as her phone fell to her wayside and fatigue finally took over. The smell of blueberries got stronger the deeper she fell into slumber.

She was definitely looking forward to Monday.


	2. Recovery Operation

**Recovery Operation**

 _Note: This story is in the same continuity as First Kiss_

"Hopps!" Chief Bogo's booming loud voice chased after her as Judy was heading down the circular staircase that led to the front lobby of the Zootopia Police Department's Downtown precinct.

The diminutive rabbit policewoman paused in her tracks and swung around to face her boss. The hulking Cape buffalo was standing halfway within the doorway of his main office, glaring at her as if she had done something wrong. Before, she would have flinched but she had gotten used to the fact that the chief's default look was as ornery as it could get. Still, she couldn't place the expression on his face. Judy quickly ran the events of the past week in her mind to see if she had done anything to raise the chief's ire. Nope. Nothing. Not this week.

"Yes chief?" Judy answered, saluting as she hopped back up the stairs to stand at attention outside his office. She tried to keep a serious face as he towered over her, standing several times her height. There was always some uneasiness whenever she stood before the chief. Despite being a member of what would nominally be called a prey species, Chief Bogo was one of the largest members of the force, taller than even some of their ursine colleagues. The fact that he had the personality to go with his size didn't help matters either.

The chief craned his head out past the doorjamb, looking around their general periphery. Downstairs, the hustle and bustle of the busiest police station in Zootopia was a mixed orchestra of voices and growls as the voices of clients, complainants, perps and officers mingled in a mix of pure auditory chaos. However, upstairs where they were, it was relatively peaceful with what little noise presented itself as the muffled ringing of phones behind glass windows and closed doors.

"Step inside, Hopps. I need to talk to you about something." Chief Bogo waved her in with his massive hooved hand. His eyes were still scanning their surroundings, as if to make sure that they were alone. When he seemed content with the relative silence of the upstairs balcony, he nodded at his rabbit subordinate.

Judy acquiesced, calmly walking into the chief's office. She wondered what the reason was for this unscheduled summoning. Behind her, even the slight sounds of the station below disappeared as she closed the big wooden door behind her.

Once inside, the chief crossed his arms in front of his barrel chest and looked at her suspiciously. "I need you to be honest with me, Hopps." His voice had taken a rather strange tone. Not exactly accusatory, but it was the tone he usually used when talking to a witness or an informant. Prying.

Judy gulped. The past dozen or so times she had been summoned to this office weren't as strangely calm as she was experiencing this very moment. The past few times, it would have been her and Nick trying hard to keep their cool while the chief berated them over some crazy thing they had done earlier in the day. Misuse of official police equipment. Excessive force. Assaulting a suspect. Destruction of city property. And then Nick would calmly remind the chief that they did in fact catch the bad guy, recover the stolen goods, or saved innocent civilians. Judy would try, try her hardest not to break out in laughter as that would incense the chief even more. So much so that at times, it seemed like smoke was practically coming out of his ears and nose. Good times.

This was different. She felt naked without Nick by her side. She felt a tinge more vulnerable without his bushy tail tickling the backs of her ankles while the chief chewed them out. Nick. She remembered why she was rushing downstairs before the chief called her in.

"What's this I've been hearing about you and Wilde?" _Uh oh_. The chief's words stunned her, leaving her slack-jawed and speechless as she felt her eyes grow in horror. He knew? Did the chief know about last week? He would have to have found out from someone. Nobody on the force knew. Nobody except Benjamin Clawhauser, the portly cheetah that manned the front desk and sometimes served as dispatch.

"Sir, I can explain-" Judy felt her knees buckling as she tried to reconcile two opposing feelings. Dread at the chief finding out that she and Nick had essentially made out the night of Gazelle's concert days ago. And then there was the warm and fuzzy feeling of remembering the bliss she felt while in her partner's arms, tasting his lips.

"Hopps." The chief continued over her attempted explanation, and explanation that would have led nowhere since her mind had just figuratively turned into jelly. "You very well know that the reason I'm allowing you two as partners despite your history together-"

"History?" What exactly did the chief know? She wondered. Judy was sure she had kept her crush on Nick under wraps ever since the sly fox had formally entered the ranks of the ZPD. Even despite the fact that she had started liking him even way before that, very early in their history in fact. When they had first met days before the event that almost tore the city in half.

"Yes, Hopps. Former confidential informants or contacts that surprisingly become police officers are not normally partnered with their former handlers." Judy sighed in relief as she realized Bogo didn't know. Apparently, the history he had been referring to was Nick's criminal past and her relationship to him in that context. Phew. And she was almost about to go down and give Clawhauser a piece of her mind after. She probably still was.

"There's a rule?" Judy asked as innocently as she could in an attempt to further distance the chief from the idea that his two top cops were engaging in romantic shenanigans with each other. Besides, she couldn't remember and particular rule stating that. Then again, while she had graduated the top of her class at the Zootopia Police Academy, apparently not all rules are central or even written down.

"No, not officially." Bogo clarified. "But conflict of interest, Officer Hopps. And it leaves you vulnerable if and when you're called to trial, that kind of stuff." The large bovine shrugged as if he really couldn't care less. And most of the time, he really didn't.

Judy's thoughts wandered to Nick again. She hadn't seen him all day, which was weird since they were officially partnered together. But she was still learning the kinks of how the ZPD functioned and in many cases, reality didn't match up with what she had been taught at the academy.

"As I was saying, Officer Hopps. The main reason you and Officer Wilde have been assigned together is because we're rather short-staffed for well...short staff." The chief actually seemed rather amused at what he had said, holding his hooves up by his shoulders with what appeared to be an annoyed grin on his face. "At least on paper." He added.

"Individually, you're my smallest mammals. A bit lacking in some aspects. Many aspects." He continued, pacing behind his heavy wooden desk. The chief was right. Despite their heart, there were quite a few requirements of the job that their larger, heavier and stronger colleagues were better-suited for. There was a time when Judy briefly considered applying for a position with the SWAT team. But she decided that brute force wasn't in her special skillset and quickly abandoned that idea. "Unofficially, together, you're my best team." Bogo kept walking as he pontificated.

Judy felt embarrassed. She never took kindly to compliments, not after the incident. Not after Nick. And definitely not from the Chief. She felt a burning sensation in her cheeks as her gaze fell to her feet, her dull foot claws digging into the carpet. She wished her partner were there, beside her.

"Which is why I don't understand why Wilde requested a break earlier today. A break from you." He pointed at her with his hooved hand. The chief's words struck Judy like a bear-caliber slug straight in the chest. She had been shot with one before, and it hurt like hell despite her protective vest absorbing most of the shock. She pain that struck her in the chest was just as painful, if not as physically real. Nick wanted out. After the kiss. What had she done wrong?

"What happened between you two last Friday?" Chief Bogo bent down at the waist to look at her. Hooves on his hips, his tail hanging straight between his legs. She could feel his breath puffing from his nostrils as he exhaled, despite the top of her head still feet below his head. "Wait, don't tell me. I don't care." Classic Chief Bogo.

"Whatever you fought about, I don't want to know." Judy silently thanked the gods that the chief wasn't the prying type. "Fix it," he said. The chief waved his hand dismissively. "Hopps. Judy. You've always been the more sensible one among you two. I don't care what you have to do. Apologize to him. Get him to apologize to you. Whatever." Bogo sighed, something he didn't normally do especially in the presence of his officers. But it seemed like beneath that rough, stoic exterior, he did seem to care about his people.

The tiny rabbit nodded in silence as she pondered what she had done so wrong that her partner would willingly want to be separated from her. Nick never opened up to anybody. Anybody except her. And even then, there were still a lot of aspects of his life that he kept her at arm's length. She had to know. She had a right to know. He at least owed her that.

"Where is Nick anyway?" She blurted out, only realizing how informal and unprofessional that was for her. Both paws instinctively went to cover her twitching nose. Thankfully, the chief didn't seem to notice. Or more likely, he didn't care.

Judy figured this conversation was coming to a close as the chief had already taken a seat and was rifling through a stack of papers on his desk, "Traffic duty," Bogo said casually as he picked a sheet of paper up.

"You put my partner on traffic duty?" Judy exclaimed with a stomp, knowing full well that Nick hated traffic duty. The thought of the gangly fox standing in the middle of a busy intersection while vehicles of various sizes passed dangerously close mere inches away from him worried Judy. If he was okay with getting assigned traffic duty, it was much worse than she thought.

"He asked for it, Hopps." Chief Bogo replied as he picked out his glasses from one of his pockets and slipped them on. They looked tiny in relation to his large head, and yet made him seem even more professional than he already was. "Came in this morning. Practically begged for it."

Judy was speechless. Nick wasn't only okay with traffic duty. He had actually picked it. Over her. Her heart fell, knowing her partner had willingly asked for what for him was practically the worst assignment in the world. Just to get away from her.

She felt the air in her nose start to thicken, all while the back of her mouth tasted a sourness that came from the pits of her gut. The somewhat seasoned policewoman held her breath and bit down on her lip in an effort to stave away what tears were welling up behind her eyes. What had she done so wrong?

Traffic. Benjamin would know where he was stationed. Patience wasn't a trait typical to rabbits, and Judy was no exception. She couldn't wait to rush downstairs and find out where to go. But first she had to know her current assignment since she had been temporarily de-partnered. "Ok sir. I will talk to Nick."

"Okay." Chief Bogo's face was already behind a folder he was holding up over his face. Only his curved horns were visible to Judy, jutting out from the sides of the thick file. "Go."

"Huh?" Judy asked, confused. "What about me? What's my assignment?" Her ears pricked out and upwards, a subconscious habit she had when surprised. Surely the chief still had a case for her, even however minor. As she had proven during the Night Howler Incident, she was still a competent policewoman even without a partner.

"Recovery," Bogo answered cryptically from behind the chunk of colored cardboard obscuring his face. She swore it sounded like the chief had said that quite enthusiastically for him.

"Recovery?" Judy's nose twitched in confusion. That was weird. Recovery cases usually went to the canines or the ursids on the force, who could use their magnified sense of smell to follow missing items or even people. As a rabbit, her natural specialty was hearing, and their canine compatriots were still just as capable or even more so when it came to that.

"Recovery. I want you to go and get your partner back." Bogo lowered the file he was holding to look at her. It was a serious stare. For all intents and purposes, it was as if the chief was just giving her a typical assignment.

"B-but my assignment for today?" Judy stammered her question out. The chief was a tough boss. He didn't normally give any of them any free days especially since the past few months of crime spiking throughout the city.

"Just talk to Wilde, Hopps." Bogo tapped the tabletop with his hooves. "I figured you had a thing you had to fix. Go fix it. I am not splitting my best team up. And I am definitely not pairing either of you up with one of the larger ones." He said with a snort. Or what sounded like a laugh. Judy imagined being partnered with their other comrades. McHorn wasn't too bad, but their size discrepancy was just too immense. And the wolves were pretty much inseparable. Besides, there was only one canine she felt truly comfortable with, and apparently he was mad at her.

"Yes sir!" Judy saluted and spun around on her heels, heading for the door. She tried to contain the mix of excitement and dread brewing in the back of her mind. Surprise and excitement at the chief giving her the day off, something she hasn't actually

"Hopps?" The chief threw her one final question on her way out. "Is there anything else you want to tell me about the two of you?" There was that investigative tone again, slightly accusatory with hints of prodding.

Judy paused, trying to think of a proper response. She was already thinking of what she would say to Nick when she saw him, however. The chief's question caught her by surprise and she had no ready answer. "No sir we don't uh, yeah we do and..."

"Hopps." Chief Bogo grinned as he held up his hand in a gesture for her to stop. "I don't care. Fix it." He waved his hand again. "Dismissed."

"Yes sir." Judy ran out before the chief could ask her another question. She was already halfway down the stairs when the door to his office closed shut. Behind it, her sensitive hearing managed to pick out some lighthearted chuckling coming from within. The chief was weird. 

* * *

Downstairs, Judy leapt up onto the front desk and glared at the overweight cheetah sitting behind it. She folded her arms in front of her chest and attempted to give the jolly feline the angriest look she could muster.

"You didn't tell anyone about me and Nick, did you?" She asked, trying to maintain a half-squint. Her colleague was frozen in mid-bite, a pink donut with multicolored rainbow sprinkles hovering an inch from his open mouth. Some of the sprinkles fell onto his belly as his claw stopped before the donut reached its destination.

"Judy!" He looked around, making sure nobody was within earshot before continuing. "Of course not!" He finished off the pastry in a single bite and then dusted the crumbs off the rotund front of his bulging uniform. "Benjamin Clawhauser does not rat out on his fellow mammals!" He exclaimed gleefully, then covered his mouth with his hands as a realization came. "No offense to rats of course. Not that I was implying that rats-"

Judy cut him off before he went on a long-winded tirade into the societal value of their diminutive rodent neighbors. "Not now, Benjie. Did Nick say anything when he came in today?"

"No, not at all! Wait," he paused for a moment before his eyes lit up upon Judy bringing up her canine partner. "De-tails!" His squeal almost caught the attention of some of their fellow officers. "What happened? Did you two...you know?" Clawhauser flashed her a naughty, loaded grin. As far as she knew, he was the only one who knew about her and Nick. And she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

Judy shook her head. "I think I did something wrong," she whispered as she sat on the inner edge of the front desk. Most of the furniture around the station was still proportioned for the larger mammals, which was both an inconvenience and a disadvantage for the few of them who were of smaller stature. Judy crossed her hanging feet by the ankles and started swinging them back and forth. "He requested a transfer to traffic."

"Traffic?" Clawhauser replied in an astonished tone, his paws bunching up his cheeks as he pressed them to the sides of his face. "But Officer Wilde hates traffic! Do you remember the time you two were stuck in the middle of Rainforest Ce-"

"Not now, Benjie." Judy shook her hands in the air and gestured to the computer terminal in front of the desk cheetah. Clawhauser was too talkative for his own good sometimes. She needed to know where Nick was.

"Anyway, I was wondering why he took cycle #52. I thought he was following a lead without you, you know. One of your Wilde-Hopps crazy shenanigans that'll end with the chief chewing you out and-"

Her growing glare made him stop talking as his neck flubbed out into a grin. "Cycle #52. Got it." Judy leapt over the table over to the other side of the desk and started punching at the keys. Thankfully, rabbit and cheetah paws weren't that far in size, which meant that she could operate Clawhauser's console to find where Nick was. ZPD vehicles all had positional trackers so it would be a simple task to find where he was.

"Sahara I-7," she felt a set of chubby paws on the back of her nape. Clawhauser smiled and shook his head at her. She gave him a blank look, wondering how he had gotten Nick's position so fast.

"Girl, I checked the moment you came in." He wiggled a powdered sugar-encrusted index finger in front of her. "Now go," he shooed her away towards the other side of the front desk towards the exit. "Go get your man." He said rather enthusiastically. A little bit too loud, Judy thought. Although at this rate, it was probably too late even if anyone in the station managed to figure it out.

"Sssh!" Judy twirled around and raised a finger to her lips as she leapt off the desk. Benjamin immediately responded with a guilty smile as he raised both his hands to his mouth.

"Oh right! Sorry!" His shouted words never caught up with the agile rabbit as she rushed out the door towards her heart's desire. 

* * *

"Screw you, cop!"

"You suck! Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Dumb fox! I've got places to be!"

"My taxes pay your salary!"

Judy knew she had the right place before she even saw her partner standing in the middle of the intersection waving his paws around mechanically. Nick had a dead look in his eyes, staring not at but through the lines of automobiles that faced him from all four directions.

She could hardly blame him, after having overheard even just a few minutes' worth of the verbal abuse the drivers were hurling in his direction. The lanky fox didn't seem to care, or didn't even hear the colorful insults citizens threw at him. Typical Nick. _Never let them know they're getting to you_. But something was clearly amiss. Instead of the smug look he normally had plastered on his handsome face, his features had taken on a passive tone. Eyes unstaring, his mouth partially open like some of the slack-jawed yokels she had grown up with in rural Bunnyborrow. His movements were robotic, with none of the swag she had come to love over the past year. It was business as usual, which wasn't the usual Nick.

She couldn't really blame the drivers either. Each of the four roads radiating out from the intersection was piled long with cars, impatiently waiting their turn. Horns beeping and honking, animals shouting and the revving of engines dominated the immediate atmosphere. It seemed like Nick was following some system that just wasn't suited for the Sahara intersection he was at, especially that it was in the middle of afternoon rush hour.

Sigh. Officer Judy Hopps skittered up to the center of the intersection and jumped up right onto the box in the middle of the large, yellow 'x' that was painted on the ground. Nick seemed as surprised to see her as the other drivers waiting for their turn to go. She saw a hint of fear, a brief glimpse of something in his eyes that looked like an urge to flee. Thankfully, his professionalism appeared to triumph over whatever baser instincts he was trying hard to hide from her. He merely nodded as she stepped up and began directing the traffic herself.

"Finally, a real cop!" A camel shouted as he passed the duo in his high-domed automobile. The cars were beginning to move sequentially as Judy implemented whatever algorithms she knew had to be used in traffic situations like these. Nick was never one for these formalities. For the sly fox, getting results was the more important aspect of the job, second only to procedure or even legality. One fundamental concept that they both disagreed on.

"Looked like you could need a hand," she shouted over the choir of beeping automobiles. Each kind had a unique horn, tailored to the general class of its prospective driver. However, all were similarly loud. Even the tiny weasel-sized coupes and otter-sized jeeps. Especially the small ones. Judy folded her ears to protect her sensitive hearing somewhat while continuing to direct traffic.

"Yeah," Nick was following her motions, making sure that bigger cars saw them. He wasn't that much taller than the pint-sized rabbit, but in a city with such diversely proportioned citizens and hardware, every foot mattered. "Thanks." He had mumbled that one out, barely audible even over just the sound of engines passing them by.

Judy dared a glance at his face. It was still in that passive, emotionless state he had on before she arrived. But there were little telltale signs that she could notice now that he was this close to her. Little signs, like a muscle twitch here, a flicker there, that let Judy in on Nick's little secret. It was just a mask. Something was bothering the normally un-fazeable fox. And she had a pretty good idea what.

"Nick." The tiny rabbit policewoman took one of the smaller boxes that had been stored under the one they had been standing on out and placed it on top of their platform. That allowed her to stand on the traffic podium at a height where she was more visible to drivers. It also placed her head at a level with her partner's tufted ears.

"Look, I don't know what happened between us last Friday night." She started. Nick's eyes widened slightly and the back of his mouth crept even further towards his ears. It looked to Judy like he was going to bolt. It was probably a good thing they were in the middle of a busy intersection, in the hottest district in the city, in the middle of rush hour with thousands of eyes on them at any one second. She knew him well enough that he wouldn't risk leaving his post behind.

"Please, just hear me out." Judy leaned backwards so that their shoulder blades were touching. It was an attempt to reassure her partner but also for her own sense of emotional security. "I don't know what I did so bad that night. Maybe it was the kiss. Maybe it was me inviting you upstairs. If it was any of those, I'm sorry." Her voice cracked towards the end of that one. She felt her ears losing their stance as she concentrated her mental effort trying not to let the tears take over her vision while she continued directing traffic.

"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. Whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry." Her left ear draped itself backwards over Nick's right shoulder. He didn't swipe it off. "I don't want to lose this. Whatever we have. I was being selfish. I thought I could..." Her voice trailed off as Judy realized she had no idea how to put into words how she actually felt about her partner. There was just too much noise. Noise, not just from their ambient surroundings but from inside her mind. From inside her heart. Especially out here, standing exposed in the middle of the city.

"Don't leave me. Again." She felt a shudder start from her center climb up to her shoulders and then up to the tips of her ears, both of which had already settled over Nick's shoulders. She wiped something from the corner of her left eye as she waved past a large truck driven by a tough-looking hippopotamus. "Nick, I-" Judy let out a pained sniffle as she felt her tiny button nose clogging up inside. "I need you."

Except for the faint sound that the little jangly bits on his uniform made as he moved, Nick was silent. There was not a single sign of acknowledgement on his face. Not a passive nod, nor a lifeless grunt. The fox simply stared ahead blankly, his face sans that smug grin that was almost part of his uniform, while he followed his partner in directing vehicles across the intersection.

Judy felt the tears welling up inside her. Whatever it was about, he was clearly still mad about it and had put up his wall. The wall that only came down for one person in the entire world, and now she was on the other side of it. Where everyone else was.

"Nick, I-"

That was when she heard a loud sigh come from behind her head, a sigh that rose above the sound of beeping horns and the roar of truck engines larger than herself. She didn't need to see Nick's face as his passive façade broke with the deep breath that he had let out. She didn't need to see the look of concern on his face, mixed with confusion and a tinge of fear.

It was simply enough to feel his padded paws enclosing her free hand. The warmth of his body flowing into hers as he maneuvered his digits through hers, their hands intertwined behind their backs, with the rest of Zootopia unaware. His long, bushy tail dropped down to their feet and lightly stroked her exposed toes. It filled Judy with a feeling that everything was going to be ok. They could figure this out.

Judy squeezed Nick's paw.

He squeezed back.


	3. Partners Above the World

**Partners Above the World**

 _Note: This story is in the same continuity as First Kiss and proceeds from Recovery Operation_

"Nick, what are we?"

"Hmm?" Nicholas P. Wilde looked up from the remaining half of the sandwich he had been happily munching on for the past few minutes. Well, technically he looked down and to his left, at the tiny rabbit sitting beside him with her legs dangling beyond the metal railing that his elbows were resting on. His partner was a good foot or two shorter than the red fox was, even when sitting down. Especially while sitting down.

"I don't know what we are." Judy Hopps threw her question into the wind, along with the crumbs of her own veggie burger she had just finished nibbling into oblivion. She watched the tiny little cubes fall between her feet and onto the roofing tiles several feet below them.

Her partner of several months leaned down and placed his elbow on top of her head affectionately. "Well, last I checked you were a rabbit," he quipped, that iconic smug smile on his face. "And I'm pretty sure I'm a fox," he added.

Judy let out a frustrated grunt. "You know what I mean." He did, she thought. It was just so typical of him to be so deflective and evasive about serious conversational subjects. And when it came to the odd couple, this was as serious as it got.

She looked down at the traffic below them. Several hundred feet below them, that is. The pair were on their final break, minutes before they went off duty as members of the Zootopia Police Department. Previously, they had responded to a domestic disturbance at one of the ultra-posh condominiums downtown. It had turned out to be a minor misunderstanding, a combination of a loud, spirited discussion and ever-nosy neighbors. Judy could relate, her apartment walls being so thin that she could actually conduct conversations with her antelope neighbors through the thin, plaster walls of her room.

The pair decided to spend the rest of their shift finally consuming that hour-long break they had neglected to take earlier in the day. Judy, being the straight-laced cop that she was, had expected to spend it just parked in the alleyway behind the condominium, chilling in the cold air of their police cruiser while munching on some donuts.

Nick had other ideas.

Somehow, he had managed to lure her up to the roof deck of the tall, fifty-some story residential building. Under the guise of _'seeing the view from above'_ , he convinced her to take the elevator all the way up to the top floor, which was indeed more of a deck than a formal building floor, missing a ceiling for most of the walkable area. It was there that Nick then prodded her to climb up some authorized access-only stairs that led to an even higher deck above what was supposed to be the highest floor, according to the elevator. Actually, Judy realized, that was probably the access floor for the machinery that powered the high-speed elevators. She was all ready to call it quits and just tell her adventurous partner to come back down with her but apparently, he still wasn't finished.

On top of the tiny extra level that housed the elevator motors, was a very tall water tower. It was huge, much bigger than most towers Judy had seen. It was definitely larger than the one on top of her own apartment building. Then again, it was a fifty-some floor condominium, probably housing at least a thousand or so denizens of varying shapes and sizes, and those mammals had to need quite a lot of water. And this up here, was the only place to store it, above the homes where gravity aided distribution to the residents. Upon reaching the top, Judy realized that the tower was firmly bolted to the very corner of the building, in a way that allowed them to stand within the safety of the railing and let their legs dangle with nothing but the city streets below to catch them if they fell.

Nick further surprised her by revealing a packed set of sandwiches and surprisingly cold drinks, something she didn't even notice him bringing with him when they first came up. So that was how they ended up sitting there, above the bustling city of Zootopia, watching the people go about their daily lives as the sun decided to come back down.

And that was how they ended up, two lonely souls far above the city they swore to protect, with Judy's question hanging in the awkward air as Nick struggled to pull out words from the mess that was his mind.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him slump his shoulders slightly as an audible sigh left his mouth. "Carrots," he shook his head. "I hardly think this is the time-"

"Nick." Judy turned to her side and grabbed his wrist. She made sure he was looking straight into her large lavender eyes. That always seemed to get his attention, swallowing him in with her fluttering long lashes bordering her oversized orbs. She squeezed hard with her paw as she asked again. "What are we?"

His eyes grew wide in response, shifting from corner-to-corner as if they themselves were searching for a way out of his canine skull. "I-I don't know what you-" Nick stammered as he rapidly averted his gaze. He looked down at her hand, then glanced away quickly. "I'm not sure."

He knew exactly what she had meant. At least Judy believed he did. The last few months had been a whirlwind of emotions for the twenty-some year old rabbit, months of actualizing and admitting the very existence of the raw feelings she had towards her vulpine partner.

"You know how I feel," she frowned at him, squeezing his wrist once more before her fingers crawled down to his hand. She could feel him trying to wriggle out from her grip but she kept her hold on his arm.

"Soft and fuzzy?" Nick gave her a stupid, goofy smile and poked her with his free hand right at the base of her left ear. His expression shifted back into that default Nick Wilde look, one that seemed to just not take anything seriously. She felt him caress the length of her ear rapidly. "Yep, very fuzzy."

"Ha ha, very funny." Judy vigorously shook her ear free of his grasp, finally pushing his fingers away with the top of her head. "I know you know what I mean," her hand shot up, catching his wrist in the middle of another attempt to grab her ear. His playfulness was getting on her nerves. Somewhat.

"Nicholas Wilde!" She reached up and wrapped her partner's tie around her hand. It was almost instinctual, a maneuver that the tiny bunny had performed so many times in the past. She pulled, drawing his snout down to her nose. Because of her diminutive stature, it was usually the only way to bring him down - or rather up - to her level of seriousness. "You are aware how I feel towards you," she glared at him as she bumped noses with him. Somehow, being this close to him still wasn't close enough. Nick's vulpine snout kept his eyes still a good half foot away from Judy's. And she could feel those eyes looking into hers. Judy blinked and continued. "What scares me is that I don't know how you feel."

She let go of his tie and leaned back into her space, her right arm subconsciously giving herself a half-embrace. "There are two things in the world I've ever been sure of." Judy sighed and squeezed her left arm. Her gaze went down to the shiny little badge on her chest, glistening in the afternoon sun. "One of them is being a cop." She looked down between her legs as they dangled over the city she swore to protect. Both of them. "The other one...is you."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. His body language was cryptic, a cipher she couldn't figure out. He turned to her. "I'm pretty sure there was a time in your life you weren't sure you still wanted to be a cop." Judy winced, remembering those weeks she spent moping at home after having quit from the ZPD in the midst of the Night Howler Incident.

"You're right, I guess." A thought crossed her mind. "That leaves you." Judy remembered that when she had an idea, a clue that eventually led to the resolution of that incident. She didn't go to the ZPD. She didn't go to Chief Bogo who at that time had already grown to respect her as an officer of the ZPD. She didn't go to city hall, to the new mayor - who turned out to be behind it all anyway. She didn't even take the time out to tell her parents of her suspicions or findings. Instead, she went straight to the one person in the world that she knew she could depend on. The same person whose hand she subconsciously reached out for.

"Me." Nick reversed his palm, patting her hand on the back somewhat condescendingly. "Fox of last resort, I guess." He snorted. "What were you going to do, go to the cops? You know you can't trust cops." He gave her a lopsided grin.

Judy felt her shoulders sag in frustrated defeat. "Why do you do this?" She was not in any mood to spar with his quips or deal with his evasiveness. Not here, not now. "Never let them see they're getting to you, right?" She could almost feel her voice breaking. The pressure was already building up behind her nose. "I know I get to you. I can see it in the way you touch my hand playfully, as if pretending to treat me like a toy would hide how you really feel. I can see it in the way you look at me when you think I'm not looking. I can hear it in the way your breathing gets faster, shallower, your heartbeat faster and louder when I pull you down by your tie."

Nick nodded, eyes closed and mouth pressed into a thin line. "I do this because..." His voice trailed off into utter silence. He fidgeted for a little, "Because if I'm not funny, then I have to face the fact that..." His voice left descended into that pit of muffled unintelligibility once more as he stared off into the distant clouds floating far outside the city limits.

"That what, Nick?" Judy pressed him. "What can't you bring yourself to face?" She glared at him, feeling the frustration and the anger coursing through her veins as she pumped her clenched fists by her hips. She slammed her thighs down on the metal grating that bore her weight, sending vibrations down and around the entire tower superstructure.

"The fact that I think I've fallen in love with you."

The cars beneath them suddenly stopped moving. The distant sounds of construction paused, along with the sound of the wind whistling through the metal bars that supported the tower they were sitting on. Even the clouds above them, passing by like wisps of cotton floating in the sky, had decided to hang still. There was nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat, thumping loudly against her chest.

Judy's mind went completely blank. She found herself staring into the empty space hundreds of feet above the sunbaked rooftops and busy streets down below. Each view seemed like her first, her eyes never feeling like latching on onto anything in particular. She could feel her senses leaving her. It was as if her entire body suddenly went numb.

Beside her, Nick couldn't bear to look at her. The normally smug fox had gone into a stoic mood, staring off into the distant sunset even before the sun had started to touch the horizon. It was like he was seeing a portrait of things yet to come, and whatever he saw stunned him into abject silence.

It was a silence that didn't last long.

"Ooooooooooh!" A familiar high-pitched voice squealed over the radio. "It's about time you two!" It was the all-too familiar chirping of front desk officer Benjamin Clawhauser. Judy felt a surge of panic as she looked down at the receiver on her belt. Phew. She let out a sigh of relief. The channel knob on the top surface of the black plastic box was set to _'1'_ , which was a private channel between the officer and the front desk. Whatever had transpired, this was just between Clawhauser and the two of them. And Benjamin already knew anyway, at least from Judy's side of the equation.

"Clawhauser!" Judy shouted into the receiver. She was about to press the send button before she did but she realized it was already stuck in that position for some reason. "How long have you been listening?" She asked, holding a finger up to Nick's nose. The fox didn't seem like he was about to say anything, but one could never be too sure.

"Long enough. I told you!" Clawhauser half-squealed over the radio. "This is so exciting!" Benjamin's overly-enthusiastic self was blatant through the crackling audio. "Hey Nick!" He added.

"Hey Claw." Nick answered in the subdued tone of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Judy felt amusement at seeing her partner this flabbergasted. It was adorable, Nick looking so vulnerable. It was something he would never let on if there were anybody else around. It just cemented how special he made her feel.

"Clawhauser! Where's my five o'clock?" Chief Bogo's voice came thundering over the radio over Benjamin's voice. It was barely a surprise to Judy that the chief was just that booming loud.

"Gotta go! Work, work!" Clawhauser shot off a quick goodbye as the radio clicked into silence, leaving the two near-off-duty police-mammals where they were, hundreds of feet above the rest of the city. Suddenly, Judy just didn't know what to say again as Nick's last words to her echoed in her mind. It seemed like Nick himself was blanked out as well, sitting uncharacteristically quiet and well, not quite smug at all.

"That was awkward." Thankfully, Nick saved her from having to say something.

She replied with a curt nod, and a sound that was somewhere between a cough and a high-pitched grunt. Judy wasn't sure where it even came from, since she was still biting down on her lower lip tightly with her huge incisors. What she was pretty sure of was that her partner was now trying to hide the fact that he was laughing at her.

"What?" She frowned, crossing her arms in front of chest.

"Nothing," Nick said. "I just love that rabbit-y sound you make." He looked down at his radio to make sure it was turned down and not broadcasting to the rest of the force.

"Hmph." Judy's frown intensified, and she shot back with another high-pitched 'rabbit-y' sound, as her partner had just described it. "If I remember, we were talking about how that wasn't the only thing you loved about me." She had no idea where that came from, but the moment it came out of her mouth she regretted having said that. Judy was all content on having his earlier admission without pressing on and pushing her luck. She pulled her legs under the railing they were sitting on as she felt her toes curl in awkward anticipation.

Unexpectedly, Nick spoke up. "I've known for a while. I guess you've known for a while too. Maybe far longer than I have myself." The fur on the back of her arm shot straight upwards in surprise as she felt a warm, constricting feeling around the small of her waist. He had his arm around her. Not in a patronizing or friendly way, but in a manner that offered more. Said more. Meant more.

Judy leaned into him, letting her temple rest on the side of his chest, just below his arm. "Nick, what are we?" She echoed from earlier, but with a lot less force, a lot less intent.

He hugged her tighter, resting his chin on the top of her head right between her ears. She could feel his whiskers tickling the sensitive skin at the base of her ears. "Does it matter?" He replied as he squeezed with his arm.

Judy thought about it. In a way, he was right. Whatever combination of words they chose to refer to the two of them, it wouldn't change what they were. It wouldn't change what they were inevitably going to become. It certainly wouldn't change what she felt for him. And Judy had a feeling it wasn't going to change anything from Nick's side of the equation at all either.

"We're whatever we are?" She said, her arms wrapping around Nick's abdomen as she pushed her face into the course fabric of his uniform. Eyes closed, she tried to breathe his foxy musk in, but the wind was too strong for her to get anything but a passing whiff.

In fact, this high over the city, the weather patterns seemed different. The air felt thinner, faster, stronger. The wind had been buffeting the water tower they were sitting on with enough intensity that Judy could hear the metal groaning, the bolts creaking against the shear pressure. At this altitude, Zootopia's carefully-managed climate control had much less impact, it seemed. Up here on top of the world, the machinations of mere mammals took a back seat to the unassailable will of nature.

"Judy."

She felt every muscle in her body tense hearing her name uttered on Nick's lips. Her ears tried to stand on end but the rest of the musculature past the base went completely limp, along with most of her will to leave. Judy loved it whenever Nick called her by her given name. Not 'carrots' or Hopps or sometimes even 'rabbit' or 'dumb bunny'. He did it sparingly enough that she knew it meant something whenever he called her by her real name.

"It all looks so nice from up here," he said softly right into her left ear. It was more than a whisper, with the cold, wet tip of his canine nose brushing softly against the sensitive skin of her inner ear. He nuzzled against her some, his scant whiskers eliciting an involuntary shudder across her shoulders as they lightly scratched the thin skin on the surface of her upper ear. She could feel the warmth of his moist breath over her wind-swept fur. "Amazing."

"Yeah, it does-" Judy stopped as she felt her partner's arm squeeze harder while looped around her midsection. His palm was flat over her belly and it seemed like he was...stroking it? _Oh my god_. Judy screamed internally as she realized what was happening. Was Nick was flirting with her? Sensually?

"Nick." She looked up into his deep, emerald eyes. He was looking at her intently, with none of the smug, none of the smarm that typically accompanied a Nick Wilde-patented look. It was nothing but an honest stare of affection.

Warmth caressed their bodies as the sun's rays shifted from bright white into a deep golden hue. It bathed the city of Zootopia in the dying shades of a sun that was about to retire for the day, leaving them to the mercy of the evening's glow.

Nick closed his eyes and leaned in, only stopping a scant distance from Judy's face for her to return the motion and complete the kiss that she had been yearning for since that night after the concert. The tiny rabbit straightened her back and craned her neck upwards, only to discover that she was a few inches short of her goal.

Just a few more inches. She tensed her leg muscles for the leap that would take her straight into Nick's lips.

And that was when the receiver hanging from Judy's belt crackled to life.

"Attention all units. Robbery in progress, Sahara Square at 56 Dromedary Lane. Units in the vicinity are advised to respond. Attention..."

Almost immediately, her ears flicked erect behind her head. Both their eyes flicked open almost on instinct as the two police-mammals were slowly pulled back into the reality they had been avoiding for the past hour.

Nick's eyes popped open, though he kept his head in place. His eyes flickered downwards to the radio on Judy's belt. His eyes slammed shut as he shook his head, the edges of his mouth pulling back into a half-grimace before settling into a look that matched the sigh that audibly escaped out his nostrils.

His eyes popped open, looked at his partner's face a few inches from his own, and completed the distance between them in one swift and decisive motion. Judy barely had time to register as he gave her a tiny, momentary peck on her lips with his own.

"To be continued," he winked as he straightened up. Nick brought his right arm up and took a glance at his watch. "Two past five. We're off shift, y'know."

Judy gave him a look. That look. Nick sighed and jumped back down onto the balcony. Judy was already ahead of him, almost at the elevator when he made it through the sliding doors back into the hall.

Save for an armadillo that got on at the twentieth floor and got off at the fifteenth, the elevator ride down was relatively uneventful. Right as the doors closed behind the armored citizen, Judy felt Nick's padded paw lightly grasp her left hand. She could feel his thumb circling the back of her hand, tickling her skin beneath her fur. He let out a slight yelp of surprise when his partner leaned in with her head into his flank. It was that exact moment that Judy Hopps closed her eyes and wished that that elevator ride would never end. The city could wait.

Alas, it was not to be. The pair quickly exited the lift and rushed to their cruiser, parked just around the block along a little side street behind the condominium building.

Judy could hear the dispatcher's voice even from outside the cruiser. "-bbery in progress, multiple armed suspects-"

She picked the transceiver up as soon as she had the door open. "Hopps and Wilde responding!" She shouted into the microphone as she jumped into the driver's seat. Nick was already beside her, punching buttons on their dashboard console.

To her surprise, the dispatcher replied on a private channel. "Negative, Officer Hopps. Stand down. Suspects are Class B mammals. Repeat, stand down." Nick gave her a sudden concerned look. That meant that the perpetrators were species much larger and more dangerous than they could handle, at least according to official ZPD regulations.

Judy looked back at her partner. In the past, she'd simply flash him a defiant smile. He'd nod back with his own smug grin. And then they'd be on their way. For some reason, this time Judy paused as she studied Nick's face, only realizing at the last second what she was doing. She was waiting for his approval.

Her partner stared back at her silently. Judy knew how her heart felt about this decision, and from the way he just closed his eyes and sighed, it seemed like Nick knew how she felt as well. The gangly fox shook his head and shrugged. He buckled up, but not before reaching under his seat for a thick plastic case. From within, he took out a large-ish hand stun rifle, obviously meant for use by a slightly larger mammal.

With his other hand, he picked up the microphone and brought it to the side of his mouth. "I'm sorry dispatch, Wilde here. Your last message was garbled, something may be wrong with the radio." He pressed the button a few times to simulate the transmission breaking up. "Anyway, Wilde and Hopps responding, send backup!" He quickly dialed the volume down as dispatch was repeating the order to stand down.

"Well partner?" He grinned at the smiling rabbit sitting beside him. "That's only four blocks from here," he pulled up a vicinity map on the console screen. "That's what, ten minutes away in this traffic?"

"You know I can make it in five," Judy quipped back. This was what she signed up for. Danger be damned. It was time to make the world a better place.

She revved up the engine a few times before shifting gears and bringing them out onto the abandoned side road. The cruiser handled pretty well for an aging converted SUV, its drivers side seat conveniently modified to fit the diminutive officer that was assigned to it.

"Y'know what we are, carrots?" Nick asked while checking the cartridge loads and voltage levels of his Lupus-grade stun rifle. He had already slipped on one of the special gloves he had to wear to make his paws bigger in order to hold his standard-issue weapon.

"Hmm?" Judy grunted, concentrating on the road before her. They were nearing where they had to merge with the afternoon rush hour traffic.

"We're partners." He flashed her his trademark smug smile. But there was something else behind that overconfident veneer that the sly fox had plastered over his face. Something even more intimate than that buried look of concern and affection that she knew lay beneath that perfect mask.

"Partners," Judy repeated as she reached out with her free hand and grasped her partner's ungloved paw, her fingers finding the crevasses in between his knuckles. She could feel the soft fluff of his fur on the tips of her fingers.

For a brief moment, everything stopped. The traffic going both ways on both lanes on the road in front of them. The blinking indicator lights on the dashboard of the car. The crackling voice over the radio updating them on the status on the scene. There was only her hand and his. Two kindred spirits who happen to be travelling on the same path, deciding to walk together rather than apart.

 _Partners_.


End file.
